Ebay?

Posted by David Hardy · 25 March 2008 12:07 PM

Ebay won't let a person use it to sell a firearm (and I've heard of them giving people trouble about selling even dummy ammunition, but apparently it's happy to sell switchblades. The interstate shipment of which happens to be a federal offense...

Yep, here is Ebay's policy page. No guns, not even pellet guns or black powder. And nothing resembling ammo: "This includes live, inert, and blank ammunition, as well as any component used to make up an actual round of ammunition, such as lead bullets, brass/casings, shells, primers and gunpowder."

22 Comments

If I recall correctly, their policy extends to firearms parts and magazines, altho' I occasionally see a few listings for those. I've got a bunch of surplus 1911 parts in the shop that I'd love to move on eBay but...

I've seen several very funny listings put up by extremely frustrated sellers trying to sell spent brass casings. The morons who police the auctions for such sales kept taking the auction down because they were selling "ammunition." The sellers persevered and continued to re-list the auction with lengthy, highly sarcastic and hilarious explanations for the benefit of the e-Bay drones that "spent" means totally inert. They are mere cylinders of brass - i.e., scrap metal whose greatest hazard would be if someone threw a piece at you and it hit you in the eye.

I think e-Bay has since modified its policy so you can't even sell spent brass anymore. I could be wrong on that, but it wouldn't surprise me - although it would annoy me.

It's probably just an entrapment scam with some nanny-staters. Screw em, hope they get drug into court and shut down. The original justification iirc on limits on evil gun parts was that they were based in Kali. I'd love to know the legal status of switchblades in the peoples republic. Damn hypocrites!

They must have a corporate motto similar to Google's: "Don't be evil." Which translates, in their world, to: "Don't stray from leftist and progressive thought in any aspect of life. And never forget that Republicans ARE evil."

Are you just finding out about this now? This has been going on for a number of years. Same thing with Pay Pal, even before it got bought out by eBay. No self-respecting gun owner should be using these.

I saw what was probably the funniest of the postings Bill refers to. Some guy was selling a few pieces of rifle brass, and eBay was giving him a terrible time. The sarcasm was largely carried on by "questions to the seller" and were hilarious.

eBay wanted to know how these items had been rendered inert, to which he replied that they had never been ert.

Since eBay didn't want to continue to look extremely foolish, they eventually shut him down. Which made them look more foolish.

It's too bad. It used to be a good source of rifle barrels and stocks. Now my shopping is elsewhere.

The Big Point is the need for anti-discrimination laws. We protect everything else...it seems only just that firearm owners should be afforded some protection.

Think about it...I can ship almost anything at the UPS store a half mile away - but should I want to ship a gun, it's a 80-mile drive. Ebay will let you sell just about anything - unless it's firearms-related. Sounds like discrimination to me.

Not lately, but I used to buy bullets from a guy on eBay on a regular basis. He was about a dollar a box cheaper than anywhere else and he would stuff up to 8 boxes of 100 count each into a USPS box that was $8 postage without regard to weight.

That made the bullets exactly the same price as at Sportsmen's Warehouse but with no sales tax. Plus I didn't have to go to the store. I just made a few clicks on my computer and waited to see my mailman struggling down my front walk.

The box was so heavy my mailman could hardly lift it out of his truck and waddled like a duck carrying it up to my porch.

Actually, I read the ebay posting. There is nothing to indicate that it is a "switchblade".
Doesn't even seem to be a gravity assisted snap blade (you shake it and the blades comes out and locks). It just seems to be the same as a cheap knife that I had when I was 15.

Notice the thumbnail notch on the spine of the blade. Look at the pic carefully and you'll see that it looks like a folding knife. No reason to block that auction.

I was also bummed when eBay blocked the sale of barrels since I am in the market for a 2" and a 10 or 12" barrel for my Dan Wesson .357. But I haven't stopped doing business with them. Its their business and I believe that its their choice. I do have some issues with the way that Paypal froze funds over the years.

But I'm not going to stick a finger in my eye for their stupidity. I bought my skoolie to make into an RV on ebay, bought its fridge & AC/DC inverter there. I buy books & DVDs there.
But I bought a rifle through one of the dedicated firearms sites. I like the diveristy of services provided by the diversity of businesses. I believe that this is the way open markets should work.

I think one of the reasons that outfits such as eBay end up banning more and more things and regulating more tightly the transactions is because of litigation. Like several others here, I'm a lawyer, so I feel I can criticize the practice without sounding like just another lawyer-hating person engaging in the ever-popular sport of lawyer-bashing.

But seriously - did anyone else notice the recent news story about how Craig's list was sued over ads that violated fair housing laws? Fortunately, some sanity prevailed within the court system and judgment was rendered for Craig's list. But you just know that, if someone were shot or injured with a gun, ammo, gun parts, or accessories that the attacker managed to acquire via an e-Bay auction, who is the victim gonna sue? The creep with the gun, who probably doesn't have two nickels to rub together? Or the big bad deep pockets free-market site that did not exercise enough oversight and control of its auctions to prevent this guy from buying a nasty ol' weapon?

That, plus ya gotta consider the fact that eBay started in the San Fran area...

MichaelG, I don't fault you if you wantto continue to do business with them. It is your concern and their business.

I will not because I don't let my hardware guy run my life either. Admittedly Ebay isn't running my life, but their policy is just another encouragement for those who would. I won't help them encourage them.

Yeah, after Cho, they banned any gun parts/accessories that are employed in the process of bullet launching. Craigslist is the same way. No surprise, since Ebay owns them. They bought them to eliminate the only real world wide competition they might face in the foreseeable future. And they make sure that they don't really compete, of course.